Ibuki Yagami
|relationships= Mr. Yagami Mrs. Yagami |occupation= Student |residence= |japanese va= Yuriko Fuchizaki |english va= Alexandra Carter }} Ibuki Yagami (八神 いぶき, Yagami Ibuki) is a major character of Maison Ikkoku, who develops a crush on Yūsaku, when he briefly acts as a student-teacher in the high school she was attending (which was the same school Kyōko attended, where she met Soichiro). Biography Ibuki was at first unimpressed with "that mope" (1st edition of English manga) or "that dork" (2nd edition), even ridiculing one of her classmates for her short-lived crush on Yusaku, but Ibuki developed her own crush after misinterpreting him as a sort of tragic romantic hero. Even after she spends more time around Yusaku (and possibly learns that her first impression was more accurate), her feelings for him persist even after his tenure at her school ends. Ibuki tends to hatch devious plots that put her together with Yusaku, usually putting him into a compromising situation. Yusaku is not interested in her, but is a pushover about it as always, and Ibuki refuses to be denied. Kyōko at first lets Ibuki play out what Kyoko sees as a simple schoolgirl crush, even acting on occasion to "protect Ibuki from Yusaku", but eventually sides with him when it becomes clear that he is the one that needs protection. After getting to know her, Kyoko realizes that she is much more brazen about her feelings than she ever was with Soichiro. But Kyoko is continually frustrated with what she perceives as Yūsaku's unwillingness to assert himself, as with Kozue. Also, she cannot help but feel jealous, but then feels mortified for being jealous of a high school girl. Ibuki, on the other hand, initially sees Kyoko as a role model for getting married to her own high school teacher, but later comes to recognize "that widow" as a rival for Yusaku's affections and often confronts her, she even pushes Kyoko to admit her love for Yūsaku, and calls her a coward when she refuses to do so. However when she found out the reason why Kyoko refused to admit that she loved Yusaku, she became less competitive with her and even went to the extent of strengthening her senior's relationship with her former teacher. It can be difficult to determine whether Ibuki is more interested in Yusaku himself or in what she perceives as the tragic romance of their situation. In some ways, Ibuki's affection for Yusaku is similar to Shun's affection for Kyoko -- Ibuki, like Shun, hails from a wealthy, elite family, and seems motivated in part by a romantic notion of rescuing Yusaku from a lower-class life. At the end of the series Ibuki goes to an all girl's college still hanging into the dream that she can be with Yusaku Godai. Trivia * She is among the major characters whose name involves a number. Her family name Yagami means "eight gods", therefore she is representative of the number 8, although she is one of the characters who does not live in Ikkoku-kan. Category:Female Category:Characters Category:A to Z